


SMAU: Saeran Choi

by Zifeara



Series: For Whom the Soul Sings [2]
Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: AU, Child Abuse, F/M, Has a happy ending i promise, M/M, MAJOR spoilers for Luciel's real name, More tags to be added with the second chapter, Softer Saeran, The RFA and Mint Eye isn't a thing, Verbal Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2018-06-05
Packaged: 2019-05-18 10:43:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14851242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zifeara/pseuds/Zifeara
Summary: Written for Saeran Choi Week 2018 on Tumblr!As a child, Saeran was always told he would amount to nothing and would never make anyone happy. At 13 years old, his life changes forever for the better as does his twin's. Now they get a shot at happiness, but will it work out?





	SMAU: Saeran Choi

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so a couple of things aren't tagged above because it would spoil the surprise towards the end, but just know that the canon abuse of the Choi twins isn't talked about in great detail or for very long, but it is present.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Written for Saeran Choi Week 2018 on Tumblr!
> 
> As a child, Saeran was always told he would amount to nothing and would never make anyone happy. At 13 years old, his life changes forever for the better as does his twin's. Now they get a shot at happiness, but will it work out?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so a couple of things aren't tagged above because it would spoil the surprise towards the end, but just know that the canon abuse of the Choi twins isn't talked about in great detail or for very long, but it is present.

At first his life had been normal. It seemed so long ago, but it was true; he and his twin brother had once been happy children, doing all the things little boys do. They were a standard family minus their father, who they had been told they should be cautious of. Things started to change around the time they started going to school. Their mother stopped singing to them at night or reading them stories. She didn’t get them new things hardly at all anymore unless it was 100% necessary. She stopped taking good care of the house, instead making them do it even though they were so young. She stopped packing them lunches to take with them, meaning they wouldn’t eat at school if they didn’t do it themselves the night before. She stopped going out nearly as much as she used to, ordering them to do the grocery shopping and to be quick about it. Instead she picked up other habits. Their mother started sleeping more and adopting a different speech pattern. When she was awake, it was at erratic times and she would be angry if she was woken up when she had been asleep, even for longer than she should be. There was always a peculiar smell about her, though neither boy knew what it was.

Then it got worse. Instead of just snapping at them for waking her, she started snapping at them for things they couldn’t control, like breathing too loudly or jiggling the table and making errant noises. She started telling them things about how lucky they were that she tolerated them considering how completely useless they were and that they were lucky she didn’t just get rid of them. How they would never be of any good to anyone and they should give up hope of anything good in their lives now. How no one could ever love such worthless boys.

He was almost 10 the first time she hit him. He had been cleaning up the kitchen, trying to make room on the counter to make lunch for himself and his brother for school tomorrow. All he had to do was clink two bottles together and that was the end of it. Their mother could be deceptively quiet when she wanted to be, so Saeran hadn't even heard her enter the room. One hand grabbed the bottle that still contained a few sips of something and the other cracked across his face with devastating speed, sending him reeling to the floor. At first while his mother screamed at him about touching things he shouldn't have, he was too shocked to even cry; Saeran just sat there staring into the nearest wall, hand over the spot the surely should hurt right now. He wasn't… imagining this had happened, was he? As the pain from the blow started ebbing in, Saeyoung got home from doing chores and nearly dropped all the things he was carrying to see why his twin was on the ground. Everything spiraled from there.

Their mother must have figured out that she enjoyed inflicting pain on her children from that moment onwards because Saeran and his brother lived in constant fear after that day. They never knew how motivated she would be to hurt them. Some days she only had the energy to verbally abuse them, ensuring they were aware of how hopeless they were and how they would never make anyone happy because they were useless wretches. Other days they weren't so lucky and one of them, usually Saeran, would end up locked in the pantry, left with only a dull ache from forming bruises and time to think about what it would be like to have a different life. Saeyoung couldn't risk letting him out, but he could bring tiny amounts of water since the pantry was already full of food. At least he wouldn't starve.

He needed something to change in his life, but he didn't know how to make that happen.

 

Whatever forces that be gave him his answer when he was 13 years old; the day after his birthday in fact. As per usual, the only present he received the day of was a less harsh beating from his mother, who instead opted to launch into her speech on how they aren’t worth anything and shouldn’t even be alive. Just like she did every year for every holiday now. He and his twin were sent to sleep without food and curled up on his bed, holding each other close and quietly singing happy birthday to themselves. It was as they stopped that his brother made a strange noise, his body tensing.

 

He looked to his twin with concern, searching his face for answers on what was wrong. “Saeyoung? What’s the matter?”

 

The other redhead held stock still, eyes slowly moving to the arm he had around his brother’s shoulder as he lifted it a bit to see his inner arm. “S… Saeran, I think…” His eyes wavered as letters surely but hesitantly appeared on his arm. **_Hello?_ **

 

“Saeyoung, you… your soulmate…” He couldn’t believe this. All their lives they'd waited for this. No matter how many times their mother had told them it wouldn’t happen, they had always kept positive and believed that one day they could prove her wrong. And now it _was_ happening- to Saeyoung at least.

 

Both twins scrambled from the bed, looking around their room frantically for something to write with. Saeyoung was the first to find a pen, but once he had it, he just stared at the single word across his skin. “Saeran… what do I even say?”

 

“I don't know…” Neither of them did. This was not supposed to manifest for them- worthless boys didn't get soulmates.

 

His twin sat back down on one of their beds, pen hovering over a spot just under the lettering. Saeyoung nodded. _Do you want to know my name?_

 

All they knew about soulmates came from the other kids at school. Everyone had different rules they played by. Some talked to each other nearly every hour and shared every detail of their day. Others wanted things to be a surprise; they agreed to keep any telling information from each other and let themselves meet naturally. They were connected, drawn to each other when the time was right, so it would definitely happen, but no one did things the same way.

 

 **_Not yet._ ** Saeran watched Saeyoung’s face drop as he got his reply. **_Is that ok?_ ** His twin shlumped forward, gazing longingly at his arm. Before softly laughing and shaking his head.

 

_Yeah :) What's your favorite color?_

 

“Saeyoung, what are you doing? They asked if it was ok, why didn't you say no? You want to know who they are, don't you?” He didn't understand, why didn't Saeyoung tell whoever was on the other side how badly he wanted to know them?

 

Taking his twins shoulders and shaking him lightly, Saeyoung started beaming. “Saeran, I _have a soulmate_ ! They're out there somewhere! I can find them and touch them and they're _real_! Soon we'll be old enough to get out of here and I'll see them someday… If they want it to be a surprise, who cares? They exist.”

 

As much as he tried, Saeran couldn't argue with that. They had been told for so long that they didn't have soulmates because they were mistakes, now that it wasn't true… he supposed Saeyoung was right. They were destined to meet eventually. But he wanted to know. He wanted to know everything about them, right down to what the earliest memory they could recall in their entire life was.

He snatched the pen from his brother quickly, pulling up the sleeve of his shirt so that he would absolutely be able to hide this from their mother. If Saeyoung had finally heard from his soulmate… maybe he was ready for his too? They were twins, maybe they went at the same time. He wanted to test the waters but he was bad at talking to people. He didn't want the first thing they heard from him to be a simple ‘hello’. They had to know he liked them already, no matter who they were. Saeran drew a small heart right above the bend of his elbow and waited, tossing the pen back to Saeyoung.

His brother had an entire conversation in tiny printed letters on his skin before too much longer and he had… nothing. He stayed awake long after Saeyoung had exhausted himself, staring at his own mark, wondering where he had gone wrong. Saeran tried to think that maybe they were just far away; far enough that they were in a completely different time zone and just hadn't seen it yet. It was in an obscure place, maybe he should do something more noticeable? He debated about this till he finally drifted off, completely unaware he'd fallen asleep.

When Saeyoung woke him up jumping around the room and squealing, it scared the Hell out of him. He probably would have fallen out of bed had his brother not been right there with a firm grip on his- his arm! Eyes darting to the crook of his arm, he let out a soft gasp. His little heart was surrounded by various patterns; swirls and flourishes arranged in a perfect frame around his one small mark. It was only a few inches across, but it was intricate in the strangest sense; such a planned simplicity seemed profound. For as plain as it was, it was beautiful, not just in appearance. He had a soulmate too. And they made him something he smiled at for the next week.

 

They were female. She was older than him by 1 year, 9 months, and 26 days. She was an only child, lived with her aunt, was getting excellent grades in school, her favorite color was black, and best of all… she lived just a few cities away from where he did. She wasn’t close enough to visit without raising suspicion from his mother, but she wasn’t more than maybe 6 hours away by bus. And was telling him more than Saeyoung’s soulmate was; she didn’t want to tell him what she looked like or her name, but anything else seemed to be fair game. She wanted some things to remain unsaid till they met, which he didn’t want to be pushy about. His brother had been right… he was just glad she was talking to him. And drawing for him.

She loved art and was pretty good at it too. He mentioned to her that he’d like to isolate their marks to places he could easily hide them for personal reasons, which meant the small masterpieces she left on his skin were for him alone. She would draw on his legs mostly since those were the easiest to conceal, sometimes the innermost parts of his arms, leaving him lasting images of animals and flowers and whatever patterns held her fancy. She drew at least something on him every day. Some nights when he couldn’t sleep, they would play little games; she would start drawing something that he would try to guess what it was or they would play hangman or tic tac toe. He was especially good at tic tac toe and for the first time, someone who wasn’t his brother told him they thought he was very smart.

Whenever she would draw, Saeran could feel an inkling of her current emotions, most of which were usually pleasant and that made him happier than he thought he could be given his situation. On nights that were extra hard for him, he would take advantage of the their ability to share feelings. All he had to do was write on his arm and wait. _Draw for me?_ She almost never went to sleep before he did, so nine times out of ten, she would do just that. When she could tell he was especially down, she would spend more time and effort to make him something prettier than usual. She would ask what he wanted and if he didn’t have anything in mind, she would draw the ocean or a desert or some other landscape she was familiar with in colored markers.

Saeyoung would talk to his soulmate and they would tell him stories in times like this, providing comforting words and promises that things would pick up and that they’d be there for him, but Saeran wouldn’t trade what he had for the world. He got to lay there and just _feel_ her calming presence, experience her joy for creating something only she could, forget for a while that he had asked this of her because he was nursing new bruises and had only stopped crying maybe a half hour ago. All in under a dozen words between them.

 

The worst also came with the best. For the first time, his mother decided to do both one day just before he turned 16; not only had she locked him in a closet, but when he was allowed out, she was still upset with him. He wasn’t even sure why, but that night she beat him to damn near within an inch of his life. The only thing that had stopped her from killing him was probably Saeyoung; his brother redirected what was left of her anger onto himself, coming away only half as bad as his twin before they finally managed to slink away to their room. They were both going to have to skip some school for a little while to recover from this.

Saeran considered himself lucky nothing was broken. Everything _hurt_. He was completely inconsolable for at least an hour, even after his brother was done patching him up. It wasn’t embarrassingly often that he suffered from full blown panic attacks, but their mother had outdone herself this time.

 

Once Saeyoung realized gently rocking and shushing him wasn’t working at all, he did the only other thing he could think of; he asked for help. Grabbing a pen from under his bed where he hoarded them, Saeyoung put one in his brother’s hand and made him write on his own arm. It wasn’t neat writing, but it was ledgeble. _Draw me something, please._

 

It took at most five seconds to get the response. **_What happened, are you ok???_ **

 

She could feel that Saeran wasn’t breathing well and was exaggeratedly manic, but Saeyoung couldn’t explain what was going on her right now; he knew Saeran never told her about their mother on purpose and it wasn’t his place to do so. He was just happy he’d managed to make this work considering he was kinda cheating. But his twin needed her. _Just go. Please._

 

Another minute passed before Saeran felt the familiar tingle of ink appearing on his skin, but it was different somehow. There was unsurprisingly a heavy layer of worry seeping through from her end, but the press of her pen or marker he usually felt wasn’t as focused, instead seeming almost… spread out or something. As soon as the color started appearing, it all made sense. The shape and feel of the mark could only mean that for the first time… she was painting. Small shield-like shapes started forming, one after the other until there were exactly 111 of them. Counting them helped him begin to breathe again. A large blob went at one end and it wasn’t until two more wavy smudges were added to the other end that he realized she was making a fish. He had seen one of these in a book at school; Koi were ornamental fish common in Japan and China.

The more the fish took shape, the more color was added, the more tiny details were delicately laid out… the more he started feeling something that wasn’t negative. He was awed. This was probably the most beautiful thing she’d done so far and he would get to look at it for at least a few days till the mark faded.

Once Saeran had calmed down and was coherent again… that was when they made the plan. He felt bad about keeping why he had contacted her in such a state a secret anymore and he wanted so badly to get out of this place. The instant he revealed he didn’t have the best home situation, the feelings he was getting through their bond shifted. She was… furious; an impossible level of anger he had never felt from her before. He tried to diffuse the new problem he had created, assuring her he hadn’t meant to lie about his life and deceive her into thinking it was better than it was- that _he_ was better than he was, but she wasn’t having it. She made him promise to tell her only the entire truth from now on, which he did without hesitation. He didn’t want her to hate him. She asked when he was set to graduate high school. When he told her, she brought up something he had said in passing; his brother was good at computers. She asked exactly how good. Considering Saeyoung repaired computers and maybe did a shady thing or two with the records at school to secretly amass enough money for them to use to get out of here the second they were legal, Saeran could tell her he was very good.

**_Tell him I want to talk to him. I have an idea._ **

She did? This was probably the oddest thing he had done ever since gaining a soulmate… sitting on his bed dictating words between her and his brother. By the time their conversation was done, he couldn’t believe what had just happened. His soulmate actually had a plan to get them out of their home. And it sounded well put together and easily doable between himself and his twin. They didn’t even have to turn 18 for this to be possible- just officially graduate highschool. If this thing worked… his soulmate was a genius. And he was sort of worried as to how she’d thought of all this so quickly.

 

Today was the day; the absolute best day of his life. Saeyoung had done his part flawlessly. They had copies of their high school transcripts, they had convinced their principal they couldn’t make it to the graduation ceremony so they had their diplomas, they had as many things that they cared about stuffed into their backpacks that would fit, they had the money they had been saving just for this moment.

Now as they stood at the bus station, making their daring escape from the Hell they grew up in, Saeran was actually nervous. The pen shook just inches above his forearm, the most noticeable place he had ever attempted to write anything. His twin’s hand softly rested on his shoulder, and his soothing voice steadied him as it had always done. “It’s okay, Saeran. We’ve gotten this far, just trust her a little more. She wants to see you, I know she does.” Saeyoung smiled warmly and he nodded.

_We’re out, where are we going?_

It was already well past dark; the twins had to wait till their mother was passed out if they were to have a chance, and it had taken longer than it should have tonight. She had seen fit to scream at them for hours about not even thinking of going to their own graduation. They assured her they wouldn’t be.

Waiting for the letters to appear seemed to take forever, but when they did, they were accompanied but a tumultuous flood of emotions that made him blush a little; nervousness, anticipation, giddy excitement, restlessness, and… something he couldn’t place.

They figured out which route to take based on the address now firmly displayed on his arm and as they took their seats and the bus sluggishly began carrying them away from the only place they had ever known, Saeyoung started talking nonstop to ease his nerves. First he was ecstatic about how they had pulled this off, which did get Saeran to smile and eventually laugh in relief that at the very least; they were never going back to that miserable place with that awful woman ever again. Then something else occured to his brother that had him over the moon.

 

“Saeran, it’s going to happen! I’m finally going to have a chance to find my soulmate! After we see yours… anything could happen~!” Saeyoung sighed and leaned heavily on his twin. “You know what? I bet that since we’ve had it so bad for so long, Karma has to throw me a bone on this one! My soulmate has to be just the most beautiful girl in the world! Dont’cha think~?”

 

Saeran rolled his eyes. “Sure, Saeyoung. Probably.”

 

“What? It’s likely true! Blonde hair, bright eyes, curves in all the _right_ places-”

 

Jostling his brother, he could feel his face heating up a little. “Would you knock it off! You’re being obnoxious.”

 

Saeyoung giggled and blinked innocently. “Saeran, are you trying to tell me you haven’t been deathly curious of what your soulmate looks like all this time? You almost know more about yours than I do! C’mon, tell me, what are you hoping for~?”

 

His twin wagged his eyebrows and elbowed him in the ribs, teasing lit to his voice only serving to turn Saeran’s entire face red. There were a _few_ things he thought of at night while he… took care of some things, but they weren’t concrete details; the sound of her voice sighing his name, the feel of her hands across his skin, just the thought of being _loved_ enough that she would do something like that with him-

 

“It doesn’t matter,” he growled in annoyance, “she’s my soulmate. However she sounds, feels- however she looks… she’s already perfect to me. I’ve been talking to her for nearly five years, I already… love her the way she is. No matter how she is.”

 

His brother stared for a moment before lifting his glasses to wipe nonexistent tears from his eye. “Saeran, that was so touching. When did you become a hopeless romantic?”

 

Now he could _definitely_ feel that he was well beyond blushing. He was radiating heat from every inch of his face and probably a good portion of his neck. “Shut up…” he grumbled and shoved his twin again.

 

At some point Saeyoung exhausted himself talking about how amazing this was going to be and how awesome Saeran’s soulmate was for thinking of this sort of thing and letting them stay with her. He finally fell asleep, but Saeran couldn’t manage; he was far too… everything really. He was nervous as Hell first and foremost. What if… what if his soulmate was like Saeyoung? What if she had a picture of him in her head and he didn’t live up to it? What if she got bored with him once they actually started hanging out together? He wasn’t very interesting and being trapped by his mother the way he was meant he had very little idea of how he was supposed to behave on his own now. She had drawn the short straw with him; he was awkward and boring and all around unworthy of someone so-

**_Hey, where are you? Close?_ **

Just as many emotions surged through him this time as they had the last, making him a little nauseous when mixed with his own. Saeran pulled the pen from his pocket, taking a deep breath after looking around to try to figure out an answer for her. The sun had risen and from what he had seen, they only had another hour or so till they reached her city. Then it was an undetermined amount of time to get to her house.

_I think so, we’re maybe an hour from the city? Do you know how long it is from the bus station to your house?_

She must have felt how much of a mess he was, but instead of saying anything about it, she started drawing him a map. He and Saeyoung had one that they had picked up a long time ago once they found out where she lived, but this was more zoomed in and had mini versions of landmarks they should see on the way on it. This map took up his entire left arm- very much like a tattoo sleeve. He was impressed with how easy it was to read and how much detail she had managed to get on it. When she wrote again, it had to be on his other arm.

**_It should take you only 20-30 minutes if you walk. By the way?_ **

Oh boy. What was it she could possibly add?

 ** _I can’t wait to finally meet you~_** There was a little heart at the end of her sentence and Saeran wasn’t sure if it was his stomach that flipped or hers. **_I couldn’t sleep last night, ever since you told me you were out._**

He swallowed hard. He could feel his heart racing. She… she was excited to see him. For now. God he could only plead with the powers that be that he didn’t disappoint her. _Me either… I’m sort of_

He hesitated, no longer sure if he wanted to put it into words. She finished the sentence for him, her neat handwriting right beside his. **_scared._ **

She didn’t stop there. **_I know._ **

Idiot, of _course_ she knew- she could _feel_ everything he felt.

**_We both are._ **

Saeran wasn’t sure if that made him feel better or worse, but it was good to know they were sharing all these emotions and it wasn’t just him. He wrote without thinking. _Just don’t be_

He wanted to smack himself; the surge of shame he felt _had_ to have carried over and now she was worried. **_Don’t be what?_ **

_Never mind, I’ll see you soon._

Stupid. He was stupid for worrying her. She was his _soulmate_ ; they were perfect for each other and everything would be _fine_ . She was the one who helped him and Saeyoung get out of their house like they had always wanted to, was offering up her home for them to stay in for as long as they liked, _promised_ him that everything would turn out ok time and time again… and he had to trust her. She had never seemed anything other than wonderful and kind. She wouldn’t go back on something 5 _years_ in the making. If anyone in this world could possibly want him… it was her.

He was still fidgeting when the bus reached their stop and he woke Saeyoung up. The twisting in his gut only got worse and worse the more they followed the map on his arm; the closer they got to the house at the end of their journey, the more he was convinced he was going to lose his nerve and his lunch. Some people didn’t feel their connection upon seeing their soulmate the first time. Some people passed their soulmate without even realizing it because they didn’t _feel_ that they were special to each other. He didn’t care what she looked like, didn’t care if she sounded the way he imagined, couldn’t have cared less if everything he had speculated she would be like was wrong; all she had to do was _feel_ _right_. He had never wanted to feel something so hard in his entire life- just that one hot spark was all he asked for.

He was almost in tears when they rounded the last corner and their destination could not have been more obvious if it had a light up neon sign on it. She’d drawn the house she lived in on him before and it was spot on; a large, deep purple Victorian style with black and white trim. Saeyoung had a steadying arm around his shoulders, so he felt Saeran gasp at the sight. He knew they were here. They wasted no more time and strode right up to the front porch. He was even more convinced he was going to throw up. His hands were shaking and breathing at a normal rhythm was hard.

Saeyoung leaned around him and softly knocked on the door before pushing him forward, right into the line of sight. This was it. The thing he had been waiting his entire life for. His hope against all hope. The footsteps rapidly approaching from the other side of the door made Saeran break out into a cold sweat. As soon as the door swung open, he held his breath.

The girl looking up at him had to be at least 6 whole inches shorter but clearly wasn’t a child; her wide grey eyes sparkled with excitement, short brown hair looking scruffy and unkempt. Her lightly freckled skin was a pleasant shade of brown that did nothing to hide the slight flush to it as though she’d been running around. Saeran locked his own gold eyes to hers and immediately his heart sank. He felt nothing.

Saeran was definitely going to cry. This wasn’t supposed to happen. All of his nerves, all of this horrible muddle of miserable emotion he was feeling was supposed to subside; the sight of her was supposed to reassure him 10 times more than her marks on his body did. _He_ of all people could not be… _disappointed_ with his soulmate. Everything he had said to his brother was true- they were his soulmate and he loved them the way they were. Before he could even squeak out a single word, she spoke.

 

“You’re here! About time!”

 

He tried to smile, he really did, but he was still attempting to get any kind of grip. All he managed was an affirmative noise and an impatient huff from his brother behind him. Now that Saeyoung had slept, he was bouncing off the walls again. The girl in front of him gave an enthusiastic little hop and moved away from the door, turning quickly and not using any kind of inside voice to call out behind her.

 

“They’re here! C’mon, c’mon!”

 

Great, there would be witnesses to his absolute lack of chill today. He still hadn’t exhaled since he’d seen her and now that breath was trapped by the lump in his throat brought on by holding in the tears he shouldn’t even be trying to shed right now.

 

The female voice from somewhere further in the house sounded nothing but annoyed as it moved closer. “I swear to god Malaya, if you’re telling me they’re here when they aren’t again just to try to exhaust my nerves _one_ more time, I’m going to put all five feet of your scrawny ass _six_ _feet under_ -”

 

Rounding a corner from what looked like it might be the kitchen, a taller girl wearing an awful lot of black in the form of a tight tshirt and jeans was focusing very hard on a tray of drinks she was carrying before looking over to the front door. Her long ebony hair hung a little in her indigo eyes and she was scowling when she tore her gaze from the cups she was determined not to drop. The instant she saw more people out of the corner of her eye, she froze.

 

The shorter girl grinned. “Uh, no really. For real this time.”

 

Saeran looked to the new girl and finally exhaled that breath. She was far enough away that he noticed something he really should have from the second the front door opened; her left arm was covered in the exact same map that had led him and his brother here. It was one quick glance from her arm to her eyes and suddenly he couldn’t breathe again for a whole different reason. All the tension eased from his shoulders and he inadvertently stood up straighter. He was pretty sure he couldn’t feel his own heart beat anymore. It had melted and was dripping down into the rest of his body, destroying everything he had been, replacing it with everything he would be for her. His entire body was gridlocked, unable to remember how to function now that each and every one of his cells had forgotten their purpose. The only thing that made him move was the fact that she was a million percent going to drop that tray she was holding.

He didn’t feel himself rush forward, all Saeran knew was one second he was a wreck in the doorway and the next he had a much better idea of what the most gorgeous color he had ever seen looked like. It was the most enchanting shade of purple with tones of blue in it. Saeran was sure that it was usually _very_ socially unacceptable to put yourself in someone else’s space with literally no warning like this, but as soon as he had, the world around him started flowing again. He had placed his hands over hers to steady the tray, but now that he was aware of it, he probably wasn’t helping keep it still anymore.

She blinked once or twice before letting a breath out as well in the form of a shaky laugh. He felt it across his face since he was so close and he thought he might _die_.

 

She was starting to blush, but held unwavering eye contact. “Zifeara.”

 

It was official. He was crying. He felt the first tear streak its way down his cheek and that was the end of it. He felt it. That thing he had needed his whole life was better than he had ever imagined it to be. “S… Saeran.”

 

Elvis’ Hound Dog went off from just behind Zifeara and the smaller girl was suddenly scrambling to find her phone in her pockets. “Shhh! Shut up, shut up!” She found it and smothered it with her hands. “Whoops, Michael. Uh gotta go!” She sprinted off in the opposite direction of the front door.

 

The laughter from right behind him tore his soulmate’s attention to the side where his twin had finally come in to the house. “Saeyoung. Glad to finally get to see the woman causing my brother to stay up way too late pretty much every night.”

 

Zifeara giggled and looked back at him, raising an eyebrow. “Can I go set this on the table now? I promise I’ve got it.”

 

Saeran was almost confused till he realized he was actually preventing her from moving. He quickly removed his hands, mumbling some kind of apology while she moved around the couch to place the tray down on the coffee table.

 

Zifeara waved to other girl as she appeared and took off, closing the front door behind her. “Bye Mal! See you tomorrow.”

 

“BYE! Have fun!”

 

The twins watched her go before Saeyoung went to sit down and wait for the inevitable. He knew there would be a lot to talk about before anything else could happen. Saeran wiped his eyes, trying to at least gain some kind of composure now that the most major excitement was done and out of the way. He did feel a lot better, but at the same time… holy shit. It wasn’t that he had been upset by how the other girl had looked, but dear god… Zifeara was beautiful. He hadn’t been expecting much, especially considering he knew he wasn’t _worth_ much, but she was checking all the boxes on a list he didn’t even know he had.

 

She came back around the couch to where he was still standing like an idiot, reaching up to take his face in her hands. “Wow… I didn’t expect you to be so…”

 

Here it was. Now that she was actually looking at him, she was realizing that he wasn’t what she wanted and would certainly regret doing this for him. He couldn’t help the color in his cheeks from staring at her, but now he was bracing himself for the rejection he had been hoping wouldn’t come.

 

“Cute.” She tilted her head slightly as she more closely inspected his features and he could swear he could _feel_ Saeyoung trying not to laugh from where he was in the living room.

 

He thought he had to be hearing things. Him? _Any_ sort of attractive? “Wh-what…?” Now he was certain he was getting so red in the face he glowed.

 

“I mean, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but damn. You’re handsome. And you have such pretty eyes and all these little freckles...” She turned his face this way and that, rubbing away the stray tear or two he hadn’t managed to contain.

 

He was 100% totally broken. Saeran felt his mouth curve into a lopsided grin and he was certain he should be uneasy and awkward. But it didn’t come. All he felt was very warm. “I-I… I don’t think I’ve ever s-seen anyone prettier than you in my whole life. I was… not ready for you.”

 

Her face flushed slightly but before she could say anything, he heard is twin groan from the couch. “Should I leave and come back later while you two get this out of the way? Cause I’m sure I can find something to do and leave you alone~”

 

Saeran rolled his eyes, grabbing Zifeara’s hands and making her come sit down with his brother. She had made breakfast and they were starving, so as they ate, she asked them to tell her about what exactly it was they had left behind. The redheads exchanged a glance before he sighed. He had promised to tell her the absolute truth with no omittances over a year ago so he couldn’t keep it from her anymore. Saeran started from the beginning, telling her everything he could remember about living with their mother while Saeyoung added what he felt was necessary. He could tell she was upset, but it didn’t seem like the almost crying he thought she would be. It was the silent fury kind. She was angry they had lived like that for so long and when he told her about the time she drew the fish for him, she actually held on to one of his hands and wouldn’t let go even after he was done.

Trying to distract her once they were done, Saeran asked for a tour of the house, hoping maybe at some point while Zifeara was showing them around, she would forget she was angry and get wrapped up in telling them about the home she’d grown up in. It seemed to be working by the time she led them upstairs to show them the bedrooms they’d be sleeping in and her discontent with their situation seemed to be entirely erased when she introduced them to her… rather unusual pet.

A fish tank sat on a dresser in her room, filled with a few inches of soil, fake plants and little spooky trees, and what looked to be some kind of jungle ruin. Two lamps sat atop the wire lid of the tank, only one on currently, and Zifeara chuckled as she encouraged them to try to find the inhabitant. After a solid 5 minutes of searching and multiple incorrect guesses from Saeyoung as to what it was they were looking for, she finally took pity on them, coming around and taking the lid off to lift what looked to be a cat skull, revealing a small furry spider. He was only about the size of a quarter, black all over except of a ring of orange on his torso and small orange tips on the joints of his legs.

 

“This is my tarantula. It’s only a few months old, so I can’t tell if it’s a he or a she yet, but I’ve been calling it October in hopes for a girl. It’ll be Oxide if it’s a he.” Zifeara beamed proudly over the little monster.

 

Saeran looked from the tiny creature to his soulmate dubiously.

 

“How can you even tell what gender it is? And why would you even _want_ a tarantula?”

 

She shrugged and gently replaced the skull.

 

“When it’s old enough, there are a few ways to tell. Tarantulas have always seemed really cool to me and I love spiders and insects and stuff. You know that.”

 

He did, but liking a thing and choosing to keep a thing as a pet in your house where it could escape and potentially wreak havoc were two very different things. Zifeara clapped her hands together and smiled again, not letting the stormcloud settle over her mood again.

 

“Now, we need to go to the store; I didn’t do the grocery shopping before you got here since I didn’t know what you both liked to eat, so let’s get that done, yeah? Then we’ll get back and settle in to start catching you up on all the good movies and shows you two have missed over all this time!”

 

Saeyoung pumped his fist and gave a little cheer, clearly eager to get going, but Saeran wasn’t so sure. “Zifeara, you don’t have to go through all this trouble over us… we’re just thankful you’ve done as much as you have…”

 

She shook her head, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and moving him to leave. “Of course I do! After everything you two have been through, I am going to spoil the absolute _Hell_ out of you both~ It isn’t like I can’t afford to. The sooner you accept it and just go along for the ride, the happier you’ll be~”

 

At first he still tried to protest; the entire way to the store and even moving up and down aisles he tried to insist they didn’t need much. Every time he did, she threw two of whatever Saeyoung was looking at into their cart, threatening that if he kept this up, they wouldn’t have any room for his brother in the car by the time they were done. Saeran gave up. If he didn’t get into the spirit of things, they would end up with only things Saeyoung liked and would have to live with that for the next foreseeable future.

When they got back and put almost everything away, they settled in to watch some of Zifeara’s favorite movies, interspersed with more questions of what the twins did and didn’t like while shoving more food than either of them had ever had the privilege of having at once into their mouths. Saeran probably ate more candy and ice cream that day than he had over his entire lifetime.

Eventually though, it was getting late and everyone was tired from the events of the past two days. Leading them back upstairs, Zifeara opened up a linen closet so that Saeyoung could see into it before gesturing to the guest bedroom.

 

“Towels and extra blankets are in here, if you need anything else, don’t even hesitate to ask.” She stepped forward, placing her hands on his twin’s shoulders and rubbing up and down gently. “You two belong here just as much as I do; you’re welcome to anything in the house, hun.”

 

At first he looked almost confused for a brief moment before smiling, relaxing into her touch. She pulled Saeyoung closer, wrapping her arms around his back and hugging him tightly. Saeran was almost jealous till he saw the look on his twin’s face… Now it was his brother that was going to cry. He returned her embrace with a desperation that had been buried beneath excitement and bravado all day, letting his strong facade fall since they were finally safe.

 

Zifeara pet his hair softly a few times before moving him to look her in the eye again, brushing a thumb under his glasses to wipe away the first of his tears. “You’re in my house now and nothing is going to hurt you here. You’re my brother and I won’t let anything happen to you anymore.” She grinned and wiped another tear. “Welcome home.”

 

He nodded through tears, waving her away and retreating into the guest bedroom so as to avoid embarrassing himself by devolving into a blubbering mess. Once Saeyoung closed the door, Zifeara turned to Saeran and smiled, reaching out and gently taking one of his hands, backing towards her own room.

He could feel that blush creeping into his face again. They were both tired beyond all reason since neither of them had slept from being far too excited to meet after all this time, but… just the thought that she hadn’t even hesitated to bring him with her into her own room had him suddenly very awake once more. He may be sheltered beyond all reason, but goddamn if he wasn’t still a 17 year old boy that just found out the most attractive woman he’d ever seen was his soulmate.

As soon as she ducked into the bathroom to change into her pajamas, Saeran changed into his own as quickly as he possibly could; he didn’t think he could stomach it if she came out when he was partially dressed. He sat on the bed and waited, too nervous to lay down. There was no way in Hell that he could handle or even _deserved_ to share this space with her. His heart was pounding and he thought he might just burst into flames at any minute. Maybe he should just go sleep with Saeyoung- he was used to that. Or better yet, go make himself a bed downstairs on the couch; he would be out of the way and by himself and he could maybe calm the fuck down before-

The bathroom door cracked open and it was too late. Zifeara came out and immediately flopped face first onto the bed, letting out a soft groan. Saeran almost jumped up right then and there to rush back downstairs, but he was frozen to the spot. That singular noise combined with what she was wearing short circuited his brain. It was just a t-shirt and flannel pants, exactly the same thing he was wearing in fact, but the difference was _her_. This was real; everything he had only dreamed of was real right now and better than he had ever imagined… and it was kinda stressing him out.

 

Zifeara rolled over to look at him and say something, but the words seemed to die in her mouth as soon as she caught the expression on his face. “Saeran? What’s the matter, hun?”

 

“I… I-I…” He could feel the familiar drying of his mouth, the tightening of the muscles in his shoulders as he hunched them, the flutter of his heart skipping beats. He whispered his next words without meaning to. “I shouldn’t be here…”

 

He could tell she was looking at him but he couldn’t meet her eyes. He actually wasn’t even sure if she heard him. Currently all he wanted was for the floor to open up and swallow him; Saeran felt so wildly out of place in such an overwhelming way and he didn’t know what to do about it or how to control all these feelings he had that he didn’t have a name for. He had wanted this for so long, but now that he had it…

Saeran felt the bed dip next to him and Zifeara’s fingers brushed across his face, gently cupping his jaw and turning him to look at her. She was smiling and something about the emotion shimmering in the impossibly deep purple galaxy her irises contained shot straight through him; it grabbed every panicked feeling swirling around in his chest and ripped it right out, replacing it with just a flustered nervousness.

 

“Hey, listen to me. You absolutely _should_ be here. I’ve been waiting my entire life to meet you and now that I have, I know everything I’ve been thinking about you for the last five years we’ve been writing back and forth is correct. Even just from talking to you in person today, I can tell you’re just as sweet and smart as I thought and you have such a good heart and…” Zifeara bit her bottom lip, softly running the tips of her fingers across his skin leaving fire in their wake.

 

He knew he was blushing. Even though Zifeara had calmed some of his panic, she hadn’t fixed everything. He knew he wasn’t worth her time and he was certain she would realize it too. He had only ever been a disappointment and nothing about him had changed just because he broke out of his house.

She seemed to sense the insecurity he harbored, moving closer and adopting a more sure grip on his face. Were her touch not still gentle somehow, he would almost be afraid, but nothing about what she was doing even remotely hurt- just anchored him. She was so close that when she spoke, he could feel the warmth of her breath across his cheeks.

 

“And even though I just really met you for the first time today… you’re my soulmate and I love you, Saeran.”

 

If he wasn’t broken before, he definitely was when she leaned forward, lightly pressing her lips to his, running one of her hands down his neck and ghosting through the hair of his nape. His eyes were wide and the passage of time stuttered as he thought he was going to die. He had never felt so hot before, so very much as though he was physically melting down on the inside, smelting everything in his brain down into only the ability to exist in this one moment.

Zifeara pulled back and the look on her face was one he had never experienced. He didn’t know what to call it. But all of a sudden, he realized what she had just said to him.

 

“L… L-love… _me_?” That was such a strange and foreign word; he wouldn’t have been sure he was even pronouncing it correctly had he not heard Saeyoung fawn over ‘the love of his life’ so many times.

 

Zifeara still had that look on her face as she nodded. “Mhm. I didn’t even have to meet you to know I loved you, but now that I have? I can say with certainty that in a couple of days, I’ll be _in_ love with you.”

 

She was still so close but oddly enough… that may have been keeping all that neurotic flailing from coming back. “What… what’s the difference?”

 

She kept that smile but moved off, throwing the blankets back and nestling into them before crooking a finger at him, beckoning him to join her. Saeran swallowed hard. “If you give me a little time, I’ll show you. But for now just get in bed, we’re both tired as Hell.”

 

***

 

Groggily coming back to consciousness, Saeran hummed into the warm body he had an arm around. It wasn’t rare for the twins to end up in bed together, either because Saeran was having a hard time falling asleep or because Saeyoung just felt lonely, but this felt slightly different somehow. Saeran assumed he was just sleepy; he slept better last night than he had in a long time and he wasn’t really all the way alert yet. He tightened his hold, noting he must be higher up on the bed than his brother was for once since he was able to place his head in the dip of his shoulder.

 

“Mmm- hyung, which bed’re we in?”

 

It didn’t matter really, but Saeyoung was a bigger pain in the ass to wake up than he was; if you didn’t give him something to focus on right away, he had a tendency to drift back off. He felt the other body take a deep breath in and shake slightly… laughing. Saeran became a little more alert, concerned at the unusual response from his sibling. Once he actually opened his eyes, it became very obvious that he was either still asleep having the best dream of his life…. or that really was _not_ his brother he was cuddled up to.

 

“I’m willing to bet it isn’t the bed you seem to think you’re in.”

 

Turning her head to look at him, Zifeara met his eyes with a teasing grin and a stifled yawn. The feeling of her slipping a hand over the one he had tucked under her stomach proved he was actually awake. _Very_ awake. His eyes grew wide as saucers as he realized his mistake as well as just how close they were.

 

“Morning, love. Your brother is down the hall; you’re stuck with me, I’m afraid.”

 

She was clearly teasing him, but all he could focus on was the flames searing through his entire body. _Jesus_ . **_Jesus Christ_ ** he was in bed with a girl- his fuckin _soulmate_. He had never felt so completely mortified but comfortable at the same time. He never wanted to move from this spot for the rest of his life. All he could think to do was to bury his face in the back of her neck to hide; he didn’t want to be seen, but he couldn’t let go just in case whatever spell was over this bed right now broke.

 

“Mmmm…” His noise of embarrassment drew another chuckle from her. “I’m… I’m awake, right? You’re real?”

 

Now she laughed in earnest, prying herself out of his grasp to turn around and face him. Zifeara tucked her head just under his chin, nuzzling into his chest and wapping one of her own arms around his waist. “I’m real, I promise. And now I’m yours.”

 

Saeran knew he stuttered at least a lot, opting to just hold tighter and not let her move. As much as she was laughing _at_ him… he wouldn’t change a thing. Her laugh was just as beautiful as everything else about her and he had never been happier. He was going to get to wake up to exactly this every day for the rest of his life. He loved his twin, really he did, but this was better.

While she did seem comfortable enough to stay there all day as well, she did force them out of bed; they had a breakfast date to make. Zifeara’s best friend knew she was meeting her soulmate and he was a little too nosey and excited for her. After rousing his twin, a round of showers, and trying to decide which of the two pairs of clothes he owned was the nicest, they were finally ready to leave. Zifeara’s supercar may have only had two seats, but that didn't stop them from situating Saeyoung in the spacious trunk comfortably enough to pretend there was room for him. He could lean over the middle console and talk to them, so it kinda worked. It was as they were on their way that Saeran noticed his brother had a new, much more obvious mark than he ever had before.

 

“Saeyoung, what's that on your wrist?”

 

His brother smiled broadly, tracing the blue half of a heart on his skin. “I was talking to my soulmate last night, kinda telling her what happened. Now that I'm in the city, we drew matching marks in case we accidentally run into each other now~ The other half on their wrist is red.”

 

The other half must have gotten washed off in the shower this morning, then. As much as Saeran wanted to give his brother flak for being so grossly romantic, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. The dreamy look on Saeyoung’s face probably mirrored his own at some point last night. He had his soulmate, now his twin was excited to find his.

 

Weeeeell… they were brothers, Saeran had to give him a _little_ shit. “Would you like to tell Zifeara all about your soulmate, Saeyoung? You seemed to not be able to shut up about them on the way here yesterday.”

 

She glanced back as his brother stammered and flushed in indignant embarrassment, glaring as he just grinned. This was what Saeyoung got for constantly waffling on about how drop dead attractive his soulmate was going to be. Hell, they didn’t even _know_ what gender they were going to be; Saeyoung always just said she.

Somehow his brother was oddly quiet about his soulmate the entire way to the cafe, smacking him in the arm any time he tried to get Saeyoung into the frenzy he’d been in yesterday. By the time they actually made it to their destination, his twin was red in the face and Saeran had to hide behind Zifeara in order to avoid a strangling. He quickly ducked into the booth their server directed them to so that Zifeara made him a wall to keep him safe from his twin. All there was to do now was wait. And silently gloat.

It was only a few minutes before Zifeara stood up next to him while he was in the middle of debating their mother’s reaction to discovering them missing with his brother. She rushed to embrace a boy barely any taller than she was; all Saeran could see over her shoulder was a shock of wild blonde hair. As soon as they separated, Zifeara ruffled all of it.

 

“Good to see ya, Blondie.” She looked from him to the brothers, pointing at each of them in turn. “This is Saeyoung and his twin Saeran. Guys, this is Yoosung; we’ve been friends since we were kids. We went to the same schools and everything.”

 

Honestly, Saeran was a little embarrassed by how quick he was to think that this boy was cute. His wide amethyst eyes only served to emphasize the softness of his features and he had almost a… a baby animal kind of appeal to him. His oversized blue hoodie didn’t help either.

 

Zifeara leaned on Yoosung’s shoulder, almost toppling him as she gave a sly grin. “So, the real question is, _which_ one is my soulmate, Yoo?”

 

Saeran looked away, knowing the heat he was becoming all too used to crept across his cheeks. He was certain Saeyoung hadn’t broken eye contact since he was always much more personable, but he didn’t want to watch Zifeara’s best friend, a person who should know her better than just about anyone else, assume that Saeyoung was her soulmate.

 

While Saeran wasn't looking, Yoosung glanced from one twin to the other and back again, expression curious, analyzing them both. He took in Saeyoung’s open posture, friendly demeanor, and relaxed countenance. That definitely seemed more like what he was used to from his oldest friend. But looking at Saeran, Yoosung tilted his head. The other twin was averting his eyes shyly, making himself small, and he was pretty sure the redhead was blushing at being acknowledged at all. He smiled, leaning back into Zifeara’s side as she still was his. Saeran looked back up as Yoosung pointed to him.

 

She looked at the blonde, clearly surprised. “What makes you think so?”

 

He shrugged, draping an arm over her shoulder. “Because I know you. You have enough personality for a dozen people, Z; you need someone to balance you out~ You make sense together.”

 

Saeran couldn’t believe his ears. They… _made_ **_sense_ ** _together_? Literally anyone thought they belonged together? Much the less anyone she held in high regard?

 

Zifeara giggled and bumped her hip into Yoosung’s. “Little shit~ Are you insinuating I’m loud and a lot to handle?”

 

The blonde smirked though he was starting to color a little. It would seem he was easily embarrassed. “I… I don’t think I was _insinuating_ anything, Z. I think I very clearly stated that you have a lot of- of character for just one l-lovely lady.”

 

She narrowed her eyes at him, sarcasm practically dripping from her smile “I stand corrected; _crafty_ little shit. You’re _real_ lucky you’re cute as Hell, Yoosung Kim. C’mon, let’s eat.”

 

She nudged the blonde towards Saeyoung’s side of the booth so that he would sit, all of them now settled in to figure out what they wanted to eat. As soon as their server took their orders, Yoosung launched into a million questions about the twins, most of which Saeyoung answered without giving too much detail about the absolute shitstorm they had survived for almost 18 years. Saeran was starting to fidget nervously, wringing his fingers under the table any time a question was directed at him before answering in the most confident manner he could muster. At least after several minutes of interrogation, Zifeara seemed to realize he was running out of what little confidence he had; she stopped Yoosung from asking anything else about their homelife and redirected his focus.

 

“Hey, speaking of soulmates, what's up with yours? They were moving here soon, right?”

 

The blonde’s face lit up and he shifted excitedly in his seat. “Yeah, they should have gotten here yesterday too! What timing, huh? Hehe. I was talking to them last night and it sounds like they made it okay. God, I’m so excited! We could run into each other literally any day now~”

 

Saeran smiled despite how awkward he felt. Yoosung and Saeyoung were probably going to get along great; now his brother would have a new friend to gush over his soulmate with while he waited to actually find them. Plus having someone to hang out with would likely get him out of the house so that he could spend time with Zifeara.

 

His brother must have been thinking along the same lines and grinned broadly, finally getting into that same spirit he had displayed on the bus ride here. “Right? I spent all night talking to my soulmate now that we can meet each other! She’s the sweetest, brightest, most amazing person and I can’t _wait_ to start exploring the city so that I can bump into her.”

 

Saeyoung’s black hoodie covered all the words across his arms, but Saeran knew he was _covered_ just from waking him this morning.

 

Yoosung was smiling so widely it looked like it hurt. “Oh man, so is mine! They’re crazy smart too; they even thought up a system for us so that we know when we see each other!”

 

He rolled up the sleeve of his hoodie, revealing the myriad of lettering covering his left forearm, along with something… else. Saeran’s eyes widened and and he couldn’t tear his gaze from the text along the boy’s arm; it looked… terribly familiar.

 

“My soulmate drew half a heart on my wrist and told me to do the other half in a different color; their half is blue and mine is red! We’re gonna do this every single day until-”

 

Saeyoung snatched the younger boy’s wrist which gained him a startled yelp, staring at the small half heart with his mouth open. Saeran swore he heard Zifeara whisper ‘fuckin no way’, quietly enough that he was probably the only one to notice, making Yoosung the last one to figure out what had just happened.

 

Saeyoung used he hand he didn’t have clamped around the blonde’s wrist to pull his own sleeve down, never taking his eyes of the red half heart, to reveal his own. As soon as Yoosung caught sight of it, he softly gasped before raising his eyes to meet the gold ones that shimmered with both disbelief and a sense of being completely awestruck simultaneously.

 

The silence that prevailed was of course broken by Saeyoung being Saeyoung. His next words were to be the first exchanged with the boy he now _knew_ to be his soulmate and what was it that he uttered in a reverently hushed tone? “I’m… I’m gay?”

 

That was it. For the first time in his life, Saeran broke out into an unstoppable hysterical fit of laughter. This was just the cherry on top of the best 2 days of his entire _life_. He watched through tears as he tried to breathe enough to gain any kind of composure back. Saeyoung went through the 5 stages of grief all at once in about 40 seconds, staring at Yoosung as his violet eyes wavered in uncertainty of what was to come. He clearly wanted to be excited but based on the way his soulmate reacted…

 

The grin that spread across Saeyoung’s face was almost inhumanly wide as he threw his arms around the blonde’s neck and exclaimed ‘I’m **_GAY_ ** !’ much louder than was really necessary. This sent Saeran into a whole new bought of giggles and this time Zifeara joined him. By the time everyone had settled down enough to talk, Yoosung was as red as his new soulmate’s hair and Saeyoung had finally realized his twin was laughing _at_ him.

 

“What? What’s so funny, Saeran? I’ve _never_ heard you laugh like that...”

 

Wiping away the tears and now very out of breath, Saeran shook his head. “Ah, god… I just can’t handle the size of the stick Karma just beat you over the head with. For _years_ I’ve heard nothing but ‘oh I bet my soulmate is just the most beautiful _woman_ ’ and ‘man Karma owes me the hottest soulmate ever for all this shit, _she’s_ going to be amazing’! Goddamn Saeyoung, if this isn’t payback for all the times you so stubbornly insisted on referring to your soulmate as _she_ and not _they_ , I don’t know what is! Hahahaha, you idiot!”

 

Now both boys across the table were a flippant shade of red and Zifeara was falling into the same never ending pit of laughter with him. She paused long enough to point out to Saeyoung that there were more than just two sexualities and he probably wasn’t gay, especially since Yoosung wasn’t either. While the blonde tried to stutter out some kind of explanation, Saeran just leaned into his soulmate as they lost it once again. Everything in his world had just fallen into place; both twins were out of the miserable prison they had lived their lives in, they both had their soulmates… life promised to be good from here on out.

 

For the first time in his life, he was genuinely happy to be Saeran Choi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Art done of Zifeara and Saeran by the magical [Thwippersnapple](https://thwippersnapple.tumblr.com) as always!


End file.
